While the NorCal girls basketball playoffs tipped off Wednesday night, a handful of teams in the area earned first-round byes and the right to host a quarterfinal Saturday at 6 p.m.

“We practice in that gym every day, so I hope it would help us to have home-court,” said Eastside Prep-East Palo Alto coach Donovan Blythe, whose team is the No. 1 seed in the NorCal Division V bracket. “But, again, it’s basketball and you have to go out and play the game. I just hope the girls are ready to go. They have to bring their A-game.”

No one knows that better than Pinewood-Los Altos Hills coach Doc Scheppler, whose Panthers finished as the runners-up of the Central Coast Section Open Division for a second year in a row.

Except this time, No. 4 Pinewood (22-5) gets to stay at home for a Friday night showdown with No. 5 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (24-6), the North Coast Section runner-up. Tip-off is scheduled for 7.

“I think it was the right decision; I think it’s just, it’s fair,” said Scheppler, whose team prevailed 69-64 in overtime when it hosted O’Dowd on Dec. 19. “We don’t get a lot of home games, so it’s going to be fun to have a really important game in front of school, community, faculty, interested fans. Nothing like a high school night basketball game to get the juices flowing.”

Every team in the CCS Open Division was guaranteed a spot in the NorCal tournament. That’s why after losing in the opening round, Menlo-Atherton, Menlo School and St. Francis-Mountain View were reclassified within NorCals.

No. 2 St. Francis (18-9) earned a first-round bye in the Division II bracket and will host No. 7 Sacramento (22-9) on Saturday.

“It’s exciting to be able to play at home,” St. Francis coach Brian Harrigan said. “And, I also think now it kind of hits your seniors. Open Division is a little bit of a different thing because win or lose, you keep playing. Now I think they understand that in NorCals, you win, you go on. You lose, you go home.”

With extra time to prepare, the Lancers took Monday off, with a 45-minute shoot-around Tuesday. Plus, Harrigan didn’t travel to Sacramento to form a scouting report following Wednesday’s 90-minute practice.

“With all the technology nowadays, you are able to find a film somewhere,” Harrigan said. “And then you also look at the schedule and talk to some of the coaches who have played them that you know to be able to get a little bit of a rundown on the teams you’re going to play.”

No. 4 M-A (26-4) and No. 6 Palo Alto (19-8) were too busy trying to advance past the Division I opening round to worry about their next opponent.

Paly, the CCS champion, was upset by No. 11 Dublin (19-10), which erased a 13-point halftime deficit in less than three minutes and held on for a 55-49 victory. The Bears had better luck, upstaging No. 13 Washington-San Francisco on Wednesday night 56-44 to earn a visit in the quarterfinals from No. 5 Heritage-Brentwood (22-9) on Saturday.

“We’re always practicing on getting the rebound and going up strong,” M-A coach Markisha Coleman said. “When she misses, she’s consistent and goes after the ball.”

In Division IV, No. 2 Menlo School (19-7) is on the opposite side of the bracket to its Atherton neighbor, No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep (20-6), the CCS champion.

SHP appears to have an easier path into the semifinals with No. 12 Central Valley-Shasta Lake (19-11) coming to town Saturday to face the Gators. Menlo, on the other hand, must contend not only with No. 7 University Prep-Redding (25-5) — a triple-OT survivor that features 6-foot-6 sophomore center Shayley Harris, who is drawing attention from Stanford — but also an 11-day layoff since going 0-2 in the Open Division.

“Hopefully we can get the rustiness out early in the game,” Menlo coach John Paye said. “We know we have a battle for us on Saturday. Anything can happen, especially when you’re playing a team that you’ve never seen before.”

Meanwhile, Eastside Prep (16-11), last year’s state runner-up in Division V, is hardly recognizable after graduating half of its six players. Not to mention, the trio of “veterans” on the team were freshmen during last year’s run to a NorCal title.

“Pretty much now what they are doing is taking the young pups under their wings and letting them know what it takes to get back there,” Blythe said. “Because it’s not a destination, it’s a journey.”

The rest of the roster doesn’t include a junior or a senior, which is why the back-to-back CCS champions endured a tough preseason schedule with the playoffs in mind.

“They had to grow up real fast, and I think that’s what is helping us right now,” said Blythe, whose team will entertain No. 8 Argonaut-Jackson (20-10). “We’re on a roll now.”